Shari’s Cafe & Pies, a struggling Oregon-based family restaurant chain known for its pies and 24-hour service, closed several locations in the Portland area over the weekend and appears to be on its last legs for good.

The closures affected restaurants in Beaverton, Portland, Gresham, Oregon City, Vancouver and more.

Shari’s and its parent company Gather Holdings could not be reached for comment. It was not immediately clear how many locations had closed, although calls to each of the eight remaining locations in the Portland metro area were not returned Monday morning.

The Oregon Lottery reported Monday that it had heard that Shari’s had permanently closed. Officials were already working to get terminals and other equipment out of the closed restaurants, according to a letter from Director Mike Wells to employees.

“Shari’s was an Oregon institution and a longtime lottery retailer,” Wells wrote in the letter. “I’m sure many of you have memories of late night comfort food, Sunday breakfast or delicious cakes.”

Willamette Week was first to report on the lottery letter Monday afternoon.

According to Wells’ letter, with the closure of Shari’s stores over the weekend, business largely shifted to neighboring retailers, indicating that revenue is unlikely to decline dramatically due to Shari’s closure. Still, Oregon Lottery spokeswoman Melanie Mesaros acknowledged that an impact on Oregon Lottery revenue is “possible.”

According to Mesaros, Shari’s generated just over $34 million in video lottery sales in fiscal 2024.

Mesaros said Shari’s has been closing restaurants in recent weeks. When lottery officials learned of the closures, they went in and picked up their equipment, Mesaros said.

Oregon Lottery learned this morning that Shari’s would be closing permanently after officials heard of additional possible closures – the chain started the year with 42 locations and was down to 17 this weekend – and Oregon Lottery has reached out to a company representative.

Sam Borgese of Gather Holdings told Oregon Lottery via email Monday, “I can confirm that at this time all of Oregon Shari’s restaurants are closed.”

In his note to lottery employees, Wells wrote, “A closure of this magnitude is uncharted territory for all of us.”

Mesaros said the director pointed to the fact that Lottery had never seen a major retailer complete lottery games like this before.

The restaurant, which opened in Hermiston in 1978, once managed about 100 restaurants in a half-dozen states. In its heyday, Shari’s was known for its extensive cake menu, limitless cups of coffee and 24-hour operations. In smaller towns, restaurants became a hub of community.

In 2023, the company announced that MGG Investment Group had invested in the chain’s then 42 restaurants in Oregon.

At the time, Gather Holdings founder Sam Borgese praised MGG’s “deep knowledge of video lottery gaming operations that exists at our 42 Oregon restaurants.”

In August, KGW News reported that the Beaverton-based chain was facing a litany of unpaid bills, back taxes and eviction notices, and that at least seven Shari’s restaurants in Washington and Idaho had unexpectedly closed in the five months prior.

Mesaros said Shari’s owes the Oregon Lottery more than $900,000.

“Every week our retailers deposit money into an account for what we call our ‘draw,’ or the earnings we are entitled to for playing the video lottery,” she explained. “If a retailer fails to pay their weekly electricity transfer bill and the bank fails to pay due to “insufficient funds” or NSF, they must pay us immediately or our equipment will be deactivated.”

The Oregon Lottery learned this month that the chain had an NSF and was “unable to repay us or provide a deposit required by administrative regulations.” They will also owe us for the remaining time the terminals are open were open this weekend,” Mesaros said.

According to Mesaros, this brings the total outstanding amount to $902,341.98.

On its website, Shari’s still boasts that it is the “largest full-service restaurant chain in the Pacific Northwest,” with locations in Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Nebraska and Wyoming. At its peak, the company employed around 4,000 people, including 1,600 in Oregon. These days are numbered.

A seemingly outdated Shari map shows 16 remaining restaurants in Oregon, each easily identified by their unique hexagonal building, and remaining in the state. The map includes eight locations in the Portland area and a single location in Vancouver at 11717 NE 76th St. However, The Oregonian/OregonLive was first to confirm that several of those locations were closed Sunday.

According to local news reports, Shari’s locations in Keizer, Redmond, Bend, Medford and Pendleton closed last month.

Last Friday, The Oregonian/OregonLive spoke with employees at six Shari locations in the metro area. All said they were informed by management that their locations were “safe” before closure.

A longtime employee of Shari’s at 11335 NE Airport Way estimated that about 50 restaurants had already closed across the company. But their location — with its popular video lottery machines and proximity to the airport — would be the last to close, they were told. As of Friday, this location was also the last in the chain to be open 24 hours a day.

Calls to the Airport Way location went unanswered Monday morning.

A decade ago, Shari’s at Airport Way was the Oregon Lottery’s fourth-largest retailer by sales, reporting nearly $1.5 million in sales in 2014, according to the Oregon Lottery’s annual comprehensive financial report. No, Shari’s shop made it into the final rankings.

–Michael Russell; [email protected]

—Jonathan Bach; [email protected]